RURAL YOUTH GUIDANCE INSTITUTE 1940 Findings

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 13: Education & Educational Programs
Series 21: Guidance Institute

1940 RURAL YOUTH GUIDANCE INSTITUTE Findings

TAGS: 1940 Rural Youth Guidance Institute Findings; Harlan County, Kentucky; Pine Mountain Settlement School; Glyn Morris; Harlan County Superintendent of Schools; youth guidance; rural schools; educational guidance; James A. Cawood; O. Latham Hatcher; Alliance for Guidance of Rural Youth;

The 1940 PINE MOUNTAIN RURAL YOUTH GUIDANCE INSTITUTE was the fourth annual week-long meeting of Harlan County teachers, parents, ministers, and other youth leaders from across the country. It was held at the Pine Mountain Settlement School where most of the earlier meetings had been located. The Alliance for Guidance of Rural Youth of Richmond, Virginia, sponsored the meeting.

Begun in 1935 when Pine Mountain Settlement School arranged for a week of a roundtable discussion with the workers at the School and the President of the Alliance for Guidance of Rural Youth, O. Latham Hatcher, as consultant, the seeds for the subsequent Institutes were sown. Hatcher, who had established a strong working relationship with Glyn Morris, the Director of Pine Mountain Settlement, became the Technical Director for the Institutes and her ideas may be found throughout the programming.

As the Institute expanded its scope and engagement with like-minded programs and individuals, the need for outside assistance was sought to keep the momentum and ideas flowing. In 1940 James A. Cawood, Superintendent of Schools for Harlan County, became the co-director of the Institute with Glyn Morris and after Morris’s departure from the area, he maintained the Institute for many years. The combined efforts of Morris and Cawood may still be felt in educational programming throughout Harlan County. The Institute launched one of the most successful guidance programs in the country for rural youth and garnered a large following.

During the week-long schedule it was estimated that in 1940 over 500 individuals were in attendance and over 300 were documented at Pine Mountain’s on-site programs. Of that number, it is estimated that some 230 of the attendees were county teachers, pulled into direct involvement by their Superintendent, Cawood. Both Federal and State education and guidance officials were also in attendance.

The 48-page FINDINGS bulletin, printed by Pine Mountain Settlement School students, details the 1940 program outcomes for the Guidance Institute [RYGI]. Further, it summarizes the key initiatives of the 1940 gathering and offers recommendations for follow-up. Of particular interest during this war time (WWII) is the discussion of National Defense and the Harlan County Youth Guidance Program and the growing youth migration to urban areas.

Glyn and Gladys Morris. Following the 1941 Guidance Institute, Morris left to serve in the war as part of the Chaplain’s Corp. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, Morris, was inducted on May 1, 1942 and served until1944.